Kim Dahl

Kimberly served her mission in the same mission as Leticia. Olongapo, Philippines. Kim was about 6 months ahead of Teesh. They got to see each other a few times in the Philippines, so cool huh. 

Kim's flight came in around 10:45PM at Salt Lake Airport.

I love being in the atmosphere of missionaries returning, there is nothing like it!

The moment we have been anticipating for 18 months.........

that mother daugther hug........awe, melts my heart

One sister, Heather, lives in Texas, so I was trying to capture all the moments while face-timing with her.

Teesh and Kim speaking Taglog

See....the missionary glow I tell ya

Well done thou good and faithful servant

Kim played volleyball for BYU before she left. These are some of her team players/friends who came to welcome her home. I believe most of them served missions as well. Kim is an impressive lady, her dream as always been to play volleyball for BYU and she has done just that. When she felt the promptings to serve a mission she knew she would lose her spot on the team. There would be no guarantees for a spot upon her return. She said she knew she needed to serve Lord and if that meant no more volleyball that would be the end of her  career. Such a faithful devoted spirit!

Mitch, Kim's brother, got engaged to Hannah while Kim was serving. Kim meet Hannah Hannah meet Kim. Hannah served in California and has been back about a year.

Kim with her loving father Kevin

It is so good to have you home Kim. Thanks for the example of service, faith, and happiness you so fully exemplify in your life.

Christmas around the world.....

In  Leticia's mission, there are many missionaries that have one white shirt and one pair of socks and that's it. It rains a lot and its super hot so these items get wet. The missionaries, at the end of the day, will wash the items and hang them to dry, but because of the humidity, the items never fully dry. These faithful servants basically wear wet damp clothes as they serve the Lord daily. When I heard of this, I could not sit back and do nothing. I pulled my resources together and with the help of others we were able to supply Christmas for 70 missionaries, 35 elders and 35 sisters.

I sent this letter out through email, hand delivered and spoke to everyone who I could to get the word out.

This was such an amazing project to be a part of. So humbling to see others give so much. One particular couple contacted me through Facebook and told me they had some money to donate. I will be honest, I was a little put out at first when they asked me to drive over an hour to collect their donation. I honestly thought it would be around $10 or $20 due to their circumstances but I agreed to make the trip. You can imagine my shock when he handed me $200 in cash and a tie his father wore when he served as a missionary in the Philippines many years ago. I felt ashamed and embarrassed for my attitude and complete love filled my heart knowing this donation was a sacrifice for their sweet struggling family. May the Lord bless this faithful family for their giving hearts.

I had one lady collect many items, enough to fill a huge box for this cause. So grateful for loving, kind, generous friends.

In the end, we sent 21 packages off to the Philippines. For the elders they received a white shirt, pair of socks, tie, set of scriptures(small blue set) hymnal, journal, scripture marker and some candy and other small items. Sisters received a blouse, skirt, no show socks, set of scriptures, journal, hymnal, stickers, scripture markers and hair accessories.

When all the items and money poured in and I packaged it up for shipping it was an overwhelming experience. Once the packages arrived in the Philippines, the mission president's wife  would gather the boxes and lay them out on a table and the companion of the in need missionary would select the necessary items  and wrap them up. Christmas morning, what would I give to be a fly on the wall watching these packages be opened.

Our Heavenly Father is so good! His hand was a huge part of why this project was a success. How grateful I am that I was able to be a small part of this miracle.

Grateful for missionary work. Grateful to support the Lord in a small way. Thanks again to all who helped make this possible.

Young Women in Excellence

We may be small in number, but we are large in spirit. Tonight the girls did an absolute fantastic job creating this evening to be out of this world awesome. I am so lucky to work with wonderful young woman and older young woman leaders ;)

 Holly Henderson, Malia Hansen, Katie Harvey, Brooklyn Guevara, Karri Jorgensen

 The girls conducted, spoke and carried out a terrific evening. 

We finished the evening with some brownies, cake pops and sugar cookies with an anchor

 Bria and Ada love that they get to join in and reap the benefits of my calling

 As a presidency, we focus more on the spirit and message than the decor. Simple and perfect

 Katie Harvey, Natalie Cherrington and Holly Henderson

 This awesome daughter earned her Young Women's Recognition tonight. She set a goal when she was a Beehive to earn it tonight. Can she have a high five for accomplishing dreams????

I always love to find a reason to celebrate my offspring. Malia makes it easy because every other day there is another accomplishment. Wow, I am so lucky to be her momma.

Tville Student of Month

It's always a welcome surprise when you receive a phone call from the high school informing you that your daughter has been selected to be student of the month. Malia, wow! You are so awesome. It was a delight to spend the morning listening to the faculty honor Malia. She deserves every bit of it too. She works hard!

It's great to be 8

Reunion Time

A summer tradition for as long as I can remember, 

Ellis Family Reunion. It is on a rotating schedule so different siblings are in charge each year. This year my oldest brother, Brad headed up the fun. We went to Bear Lake, or more accurately above Bear Lake. It was incredible. Most of the family was in attendance which is no small feat, our numbers are large with grandchildren, great grandchildren and constant marriages each year. It is awesome. I love my family. We all help each other out as we set up our individual camp sites

 Visiting with Cambria and her husband Dale and their youngest Rocky

 Roo is the favorite pet brought by cousin Stacey. Bria takes the best care of her needs every chance she can.

 Ada and Cambria's 2nd child Landon. Is he not the cutest thing? He is so kind and thoughtful. He would give up his chair if he saw someone standing. Oh my goodness, adorable little boy

 Stacey is helping Grandma Ellis out with a real mess.

 Loved sitting by the campfire reconnecting with my loved ones and it was an added bonus if I got to hold one of the babies.

 Nichole braved the trip with all four of your kids. Jason was on a hike for the YM in his ward. Little Briggs is so darn cute. He keeps Nichole on her toes as he explores his surroundings. He has the deepest cutest dimples ever.

 Not enough words for these two adorable ruged outdoorsy girls. Emilia  and Dallas belong to Katie and Nichole. Seeing them hold hands is just too much.

 I can't forget my two sisters, Lara Lee and Pamela. Those smiles tell me they have been up to something and most likely its good cookin, that sister, Pam she knows how to camp cook like no other.

 Brad's family separated us into groups and we did an activity similar to "The Amazing Race" now for someone who has never watched that show it was quite fun.

 Who will win.....the race is on.

 Malia is my snuggle buddy. Every chance she can, she is either sitting on me or laying on me or something with me. 

 I would name everyone but wow that would take some time. I love my family. I am so blessed that most live close enough we see each other every few months. Family is everything and even with the ups and downs I will take mine forever!!